Society

Cleared lottery official demands 11 million

By Zhang Jiawei (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-12-09 16:02

An official cleared of losing 27 million yuan in lottery funds has demanded 11 million yuan ($1.65 million) in compensation for the 590 days he spent in detention, Guangzhou Daily reported Thursday.

Mai Liang, head of Guangdong's sports lottery center, was charged with causing the country to lose 27.75 million yuan through neglect of duty and was held in custody in 2007, the paper said, without giving a specific date when he was detained or freed.

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The local court and procuratorate of Tianhe district in Guangdong decided on Nov 5 to give him 74,003.7 yuan in compensation, a sum Mai said was far from enough to make up for his losses which included the death of his father while in custody.

Mai has returned to his previous post but said the incident still had a very bad influence on his political life and family.

"I could have become a torch bearer for the Asian Para Games, but I failed to pass the political records check (because of the incident)," Mai said.

Mai filed his case to the Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court where a hearing was held Wednesday.